Forged In Bone
by Tigrissa18
Summary: In the war of the Surface, many monsters and humans are killed. Of those left behind, are two Natural Skeletons... Follow the story of one of them as they protect their own right and beliefs, down to the very bone. Sensitive Material Inside, Please be cautious. No defined update schedule yet.
1. Chapter 1

Forged In Bone

In the war, many monsters are killed. Many species even cease to exist, and some are driven to the brink of extinction. One of these, is the Skeleton. It leaves only two natural skeletons left; and leaves them wavering on extinction. Follow the story of one of these two monsters left behind, and how they stand their ground for what they believe is right.

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 **IMPORTANT AUTHOR'** **S NOTE AT THE END! PLEASE READ! THANK YOU AND ENJOY THE NEW STORY!**

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Chapter 1

 _That day was hell… when the humans declared war on monster kind. They were branded with spears and knives, all sorts of weapons and had taken down the first of the monsters, holding their body on a steak as it crumbled to dust to express it to all what was going to happen to all of us. Of course, I didn't understand what it meant, when I went to cross the human boarders that day. When I saw the corpse of a Froggit on that stake, I was the First monster to have witnessed it… but when that happened, there were yells from both sides. I felt sickly as an arrow got shot in my clothes- it nicked my spine on the way through. It was then the panicked cries rang out through the monsters domain…_

 _The humans wanted war._

 _They wanted this place all to themselves._

 _I didn't understand. I was but a child. My parents left every morning from our hut, crying in fear that they would never see me again. Though, they always came home. I didn't see what the problem was… until I snuck out to follow them. It was horrible, watching the carnage. Monsters, some lay with bodies, some were blood and dust on the ground. No one had noticed as I ran behind my parents, as I had chased them to battle._

 _As I had seen them turned to dust and ashes._

 _The human who had done it seemed to have pride in them, a red evil glint in his eye. He had raised his sword to strike me as well, to join my parents in their death. It was only fire that had spared me from such a cruel fate. The human ran as they began to burn, and I remember being scooped up in furry arms… and all I could do was look back, to cry and scream, reaching out for dust that blew away in the wind. It was horrible, being only such a small child then… small and naïve. I wasted my energy, crying and fighting in the white furred arms that had protected me, and the last I heard was a loud, booming voice, telling everyone to retreat… that we had lost the war._

 _Humans dominated the surface._

 _We were sent to a place called the Underground, to seemingly perish._

-ooo-

A candle (or rather, just a candle sized flame of fire magic) flickered, darkness remaining in the rest of the room. A weak small child stirred in bed, her eyes, or rather, sockets, shut weakly. She opened them faintly, and she gazed around. There wasn't much to see with the limited light, but when she heard noises other than her own breathing and the candle fluttering, she instinctively pulled the blanket up to her face. She watched in fear at the little opening she could hardly see in the dim light, and the voices grew.

"-I'm telling you, she has nothing and no one left. I've asked all the remaining guards and as many people as I could reach out to, there were no skeletons left. Gaster is the only one, but his practices aren't safe for her" The voice was feminine, and it seemed to have a deep sense of passion for what it was talking about. There was a soft groaning sigh that belonged to a male, and it seemed he was preparing a response.

"Toriel, what can we do? We can't… raise it ourselves. Its not a monster of our race" The voice was deep, strong, just as a man should have a voice as. The small child in bed recognized it as the voice that had picked her up before she was struck. She shivered, fear glossing in her features and she shut her eyes, not out of fatigue, but of fear, and tried not to make noise. She ended up making a small yelp like noise, and she could hear mumbling from the female again. "You've woken her up, Asgore" The thin entrance was opened to show a grand goat anthro looking creature in a soft purple dress. She looked over at the child in bed, and her face turned into a very soft look. "Shh, child… " She cooed gently, walking over and kneeling next to the bed that the child had been laying in. It wasn't much, it was some cloth that wasn't burnt or torn fitted over as many soft materials that could be found.

The tiny little girl sniffled a little, despite not having a nose. The kind goat like woman pulled her thumb over and brushed the underneath of little weeping eye sockets, wiping away forming tears. "No human will hurt you here" She said gently, and the small child sniffled again. "Can you tell me your name?" The goat woman asked. She knew it already, but she didn't want to scare the child. She was the youngest Skeletal child, and had been the only to survive. The small collection of bones nodded, and rubbed under her eye socket too. "O… Op…ti..ma"

"Optima" The goat woman said for clarification, and the little skeleton, identified as Optima, gave her a curt nod. "Mhm"

The goat woman seemed to put a smile on her own face. "My name is Toriel"

"Tor…i…" She seemed to struggle to pronounce the difficult name, but Toriel gave a small lighthearted laugh, and shook her head. "Need not worry about it now, Optima. How do you feel?" She asked, something she hoped the small child could understand, to which she did. She gave a simple nod to Toriel, muttering the word "okay" before she curled her body tight under her blankets. She was a bit cold… but now that was expected with the small blanket she had. Toriel looked at her expression and how she had moved under the blanket, but she frowned. There wasn't much she could do, they weren't in a mud brick home, they were in what could have just been stated as loosely gathered blankets and cloths. If she had lit a fire bigger than what was already there, she would have burned it down. She couldn't help it, and looked at Optima sadly. "I wish there was something I could do for you, Optima" She said gently. The child looked up at her, pupils small in her big eye sockets, and she gave a tiny whimper and decided to outstretch her arms. Toriel took a moment to analyze this before she got the idea. "do you… want me to hold you?"

Optima nodded. "Pease?" She asked, her small child mouth unable to properly form certain words, and making her sound more adorable than she was. Toriel accepted it, and she carefully picked Optima up. The child giggled a little, feeling the fur tickle her bones, and was wrapped up in her blanket, then hugged and cuddled to Toriel. The goat monster sat gladly with the child in her arms, finding much comfort in this particular moment. She was always willing to help one of her subjects, including those small and parentless. Asgore probably wouldn't allow her to adopt the child, but she could still do so much more. After a little bit, it had seemed that Optima drifted back to sleep, leaving Toriel to be cuddling her. The goat monster sighed in content- she had always wanted to be a mother anyway. She supposed that dream was still oh so far away… but at least she could practice here. As she could feel the skeletal child slowly breathe in her arms, she frowned a little. The entire skeleton race had been wiped out except for two of them… their royal researcher was hidden well so he would not be discovered, and Optima… she was saved from murder. Toriel looked up as she imagined the stars in the sky. There was seemingly no way to restore the royal guard to its original status. As she shut her eyes, she decided she too could sleep a little more, and allowed Optima to cuddle her while they both had slept.

While they did, another goat like figure peeked in as they were sleeping, and sighed tiredly at his wife, but gave a weak smile nonetheless. If this was something she wanted… something that would make her happy, then perhaps it was the right thing to do. Besides, who was the Great King Asgore to not take in an orphan? Well, he supposed he could have forced the child on Gaster, but knowing him… Gaster would have wanted her for… other purposes. For now, he left them alone and walked to his own tent room, hoping that one day, all of this would be… well, okay.

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 **For those who came to this fanfiction from the navigation, Welcome to the story of Optima! A Natural Skeleton left behind by the war that shoved monsters underground. A skeleton of my own design that is Heterochromatic as a nod to one of my original stories. I hope you will enjoy the story and this somewhat different and new interpretation on the before story of Undertale.**

 **If you're here from my watch list, I very much apologize for my inactivity. I will soon make a tumblr post on my Tigr Talks blog explaining EVERYTHING from the last time I updated Better Than Revenge (Back in May) to now. It is a long and complicated story that i cannot condense into an A/N. Please find it under the url tigrtalks (placed in proper tumblr url format of course) and I urge you to follow both that and my main, Tigrissa18 as that is where i'll be posting many of my original things.**

 **I do hope you all will enjoy this story and are open to this sort of interpretation, and I will warn EVERYONE NOW, there WILL be the following in this fanfiction:  
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 **Alcoholic Substance use with a Minor**  
 **Hints of Rape Culture**  
 **Hints of Sexism/Stereotyping of Women's Roles**  
 **Spoilers for the game**

 **Just because I write these situations in my story, DOES NOT mean i condone them. I'm so desperately sorry if someone winds up upset because of the content in this fanfiction. Otherwise, enjoy the story, and See ya soon! As the usual with most of my new stories there will be a second chapter VERY Quickly.**

 **Don't forget to Review, Favorite, and Follow if you'd like!**

 **~Tigrissa18**


	2. Chapter 2

Forged In Bone

In the war, many monsters are killed. Many species even cease to exist, and some are driven to the brink of extinction. One of these, is the Skeleton. It leaves only two natural skeletons left; and leaves them wavering on extinction. Follow the story of one of these two monsters left behind.

Chapter 2

"Optima~!"

"Coming my lady!"

Optima rushed down the hall after her queen had called. They had built a home now where they elected that the capital of the new… Underground kingdom of monsters was to be located. The built it a few years ago, but only with three rooms. It wasn't such a problem for Optima, as she, now 16 years old, had found herself a small little studio home not far from her current place of work. She was a bit of a servant, or rather a younger companion for the Queen and King when they would need it. She would also give directions to Gerson, or to Gaster whenever Toriel or Asgore were unavailable to do so themselves. Regardless of what she was told to do, she always did it with a smile on her face, ever so cheerful t help the king and queen kind enough to help raise her. Toriel taught her many things, as any child should learn, and Asgore… well, he was just someone to talk to when in need of a shoulder to lean on, and be friendly with! He even taught her how to fight a little bit, which Toriel of course frowned upon a bit herself, but did commend Optima for her skills.

Now arriving in the sitting room from the cavern that lead to the garden, Optima gave her queen a heartfelt smile and she bowed. Toriel shut her book and put her glasses away, standing. "I've been told that Asgore is looking for you out front. He wanted to tell you something. Of which I don't know" Toriel said softly, and gave Optima's head a little pat. The skeleton had just learned about her own soul manipulation, and how it could create an outward effect. She had created herself a little hairdo with her bangs covering her right eye. Optima commended her and found it quite cute.

The teenage skeleton nodded, smiling at Toriel and giving her a gentle hug before walking politely outside, seeing Asgore watering the tree and flowers out front. She walked over to him and he grinned at her. "Ah, there you are, Optima" He said with a gentle tone. "Hello. How are you doing this fine day?"

Optima made a small attempt of a giggle. "Just fine, my lord. There is something you wanted to discuss with me?" The polite little (in comparison to Asgore, anyway) skeleton asked, tilting her head to the side in honest curiosity. Her king was not the secretive type, and was always very kind to her. She saw no reason to be worried or scared of him. The gentle giant gave a soft smile. "Gaster has requested your presence of his lab. He want's your assistance for the day, and as I don't have anything for you to do, I figured you wouldn't mind visiting him. He's a skeleton too after all, you might become good friends one day" He said.

Her smile did not falter, and she gave him a gentle nod. "Yes sir. I will not disappoint and perform _optima_ lly" She smiled, the puns a trait she had picked up from Toriel both to cheer one another up. Asgore found them more cute and funny that the two women could find a joke in anything that wasn't so serious, and commended them for making the situation brighter. "That's my favorite skeleton girl. Now, go on ahead, Optima. He's waiting for you" Asgore said, returning to the tending of his flowers to which Optima gave a brighter smile at, her hair glowing in her happiness as she started off through the halls to reach through the Core- an area of Gaster's design utilizing the geothermal energy from the Underground to distribute to the rest of it for all the monsters to use as they needed. Of course, a good portion of it ran right to Gaster's lab, and to his studies and experiments to set the Underground free. It was only completed the year before, and was relatively new. A few monsters had migrated to it- Optima gave a friendly hello and nod to a Madjick who bounced around in his little boots and hat, giving his adorable little chuckle in greeting to the skeleton back. Optima always loved the little creatures of the underground- the small ones that seemed all the more cheery to not be threatened by humans despite there being monsters far bigger than them even. Taking her stroll through Hotland was part of her joy too- Despite not really liking the place for its heat (it made her bones sweat which honestly she didn't really like and found it disturbing), she still found it incredibly aesthetically pleasing. The lab was a fixture at the bottom corner of Hotland, right before the conjunction to waterfall and the river way that passed and connected all three areas. There, Gaster lived and conducted his work.

Gaster was an interesting character to say the least- Not only did this man carry himself on the high end of his intelligence, he was awkwardly closed off from the rest of society. He didn't converse much with the general public- even before the war (Toriel once said so quite a long time ago). Optima always felt a tat strange around the older skeleton, as if he was judging her for being a child. However, she did get an odd sense of ease being around someone of her own kind- A skeleton. A natural skeleton, they were derived from humans- a median on both sides. Their deaths came from both species, but as most attacks happened in the night before the main war, they were not confirmed to be deaths by monsters. But the society could see it. Gaster had escaped the war with cracks on his skull from rough handling as they escaped, but he was still just as intelligent as ever, and no blunt force trauma was ever going to shake that man's intelligence.

Optima shifted her balance on the balls of her feet- slightly hesitant on knocking on his door. Of course, she wanted to. She had to. She was requested for help. She was just… suspicious and nervous. Toriel did raise her to stick to her gut- well, her theoretical gut, as skeletons did not have entrails – when she believed something was amiss, and boy howdy did Gaster feel suspicious. None the less, she took a deep breath and steeled her nerves, knocking on the door and waiting. Within seconds, it opened, a rush of fresh, cool air blowing the length of Optima's dress and sending relief flooding around the skeleton. At least the man was reasonable- keep the damn house cool, even if heat was easily transferred through the metal the lab was built in. She stepped in through the cool doors and shuttered as they slammed closed. She stood politely in light of the bland lab, screens set up displaying the various areas of the Underground. She felt a little shiver as on a tiny screen she could see her home. _That_ wasn't disturbing at all.

She walked passed the screens she was going to walk past the door to the lower segment of the lab too, until she heard it shutter open and she jumped, turning her attention to the door. "G-Greetings, Doctor Gaster…" Optima said in the small, quiet and shy voice she adopted around certain people. "You… requested my presence?"

Gaster seemed to be a tad silent at first, but smiled at the lovely young woman whom he was graced with. A clipboard tucked under his arm and a dark black cane in the other hand, he looked like quite the dignified man. His cracks in his skull did not phase him ash he still wore his glasses without problem. "Good day, Optima" He said in a more than pleased tone, seemingly fixing his posture in a menial way. "I'm very glad you perused my request this early. I need some help in my lab for a little while, and afterward I'll reward you" He said. "Come, to the true lab"

Nervousness filled the pit of her pelvis (She didn't have a stomach). She had never been invited down to the true lab before… but of course, he was the Royal scientist, there couldn't have been anything bad in there…. Right? Taking a discreet breath, she nodded at him and walked into the elevator before him, watching as he came back in and turned around to face the door. Optima felt rather small- sure she wasn't that tall, but at least with Toriel and Asgore, she didn't feel too short. With Gaster… she felt intimidated. Scared even. This man was mysterious in various ways… his work, his jobs… It was all just… strange. The entire elevator ride to her seemed tense, or in the very least strange. Gaster had a never ending smile on his face. It was… disturbing.

Finally reaching the colder, frigid floors below, Optima stepped out and pulled herself closer- sure skeletons didn't really feel cold all that well, but the shock of it could still get you. Like with any other creature. Gaster didn't seem phased in the least. He walked forward without a problem, guiding optima through the catacombs of the True Lab, eventually to where Optima would be helping him out- a large room with a dug out space, wires hanging everywhere and in the back, plans for a dragonic shaped skull with the words "DETERMINATION EXTRACTION" written with it was posted. The design seemed to terrify Optima… but none the less, she stood at attention, the shock of the cold finally easing away, ready to help Gaster in an endeavors he had. Little did the unfortunate skeleton know, the day was going to end on a _very_ uneasy note.

-ooo-

It took several hours before Gaster agreed to relieve Optima of her duities, despite the younger skeleton not complaining. He came to know the signs of fatigue in a skeleton- especially one who constantly projected their magic as Optima did to create hair for herself. Her magic was beginning to dull and become even more translucent, and her bones looked stained and dirty. Neither were good. Not to mention there was always a glow in the joints of skeletons that were beginning to become stressed- and he could see her spine glowing through her dress. He eased her labors and she agreed with a fair amount of enthusiasm towards the break. He smiled and nodded towards the direction of the elevator, to which this time she didn't have such restraint going towards. The ride wasn't any less awkward, it was just now easier to not think about it with the pain in her back from the moving and lifting- she hadn't drawn out her powers enough to lift things with them as Gaster had- or even to manipulate extra hands like he did.

The elevator stopped and she left the small room first, taking a sigh of a _normal_ room temperature. She turned to Gaster, nearly forgetting about her promised reward, and gave him a small bow of appreciation. "Thank you for allowing me to work with you today, Doctor Gaster… if there's anything more I can do for you, please ask" She said, giving a small peace making smile. Gaster raised his hand as if to shush her, and smiled softly. "Please, Optima. Before you go, I'd like to take you to Snowdin. For dinner" He said.

That invitation seemed off to her. Diiner? Like… a date? Optima looked a tad alarmed, but gaster played it off with a hefty chuckle. "Don't worry, Optima. It's simply dinner" He assured her. "A reward for your hard work. You don't have to cook for yourself" He told her and she looked down, her non-existant stomach growling and rumbling through her dress which made her blush bright in purple and yellow segments. "O-Of course Gaster…. If you'd like…"

The scientist smiled and extended his hand without the cane. Optima was confused at first, as she didn't understand the gesture, but took his hand anyway as he winked with his good eye. "We'll be taking a short cut" He said in a soft, almost warm tone. This further tripped Optima up… he never spoke like that. What was going on in this man's head? She gripped it tight as she felt his powers jerk them through time and space, something she went into expecting the feelings. Once it was all over and done with, They stood out of a dimly lit pub in the middle of snowdin, the cold nipping at her bones through her clothes once more. She shivered while her bones very lightly rattled. She could hear a chuckle among gaster and she frowned at his amusement. They both stepped into this little pub, named Grillby's. Ran by a flame elemental family with the last name Grillby, they served the various enhabitance of Snowdin and honestly the warmest place in all of that portion of the underground. Optima had never really passed the place, as she often tried to be far away from Snowdin. The sight and feeling of the warm pub eased her chilled and sore bones as she followed Gaster in. One of the flames behind the bar, A tall male of burning fire stood and perked up his head from the glass he was cleaning.

Gaster gave a nod to the man of fire and moved to sit at a booth, urdging Optima to come sit with him. A tad nervously, she agreed and walked over, sitting on the otherside of the table and politely folding her hands. "This… isn't the type of place you would come, Doctor Gaster" Optima said softly, trying to un-tense herself just a little bit. The warmth was simply helping and despite being a pub, the seats were comfortable. Gaster just offered her a kind smile as he rested his cane on the inner end of the booth. "Yes, Well… It's a very warm and inviting place. Better than Hotel food, I would say. Which was the second option I had in mind" He said.

"Ah… yes, that's true…" She said softly. "There are not many well constructed resturants around in any case… You don't seem to be the very cooking type anyhow" Optima noted, and squeezed her hands tight at her feeling of disrespect. He seemed to not care and even saved it off with his expression.

"So, Optima, tell me… I am curious…. How do you see yourself through the rest of your life? Just, working for the king and queen day in and out as a messenger? Or do you have bigger goals?" asked while the two were greeted with chilled glass beverages. Optima recognized them to be alcoholic beverages- of course it wouldn't be water. Water hurts fire elementals where as Alcohol would only _Fuel the fire_ so to speak. She drummed her fingers nervously at the sight of the drink, where as Gaster took a casual sip of it.

"I, Um… Never saw that far forward" She said gently as she made an outreach for the glass. It would be impolite to not take the drink. "The only goal I have… is to strengthen my magic enough to survive on my own. Incase I were to get in a fight for some reason or another… I want to be able to protect myself enough to at least get away" Optima said gently, taking a small test sip of her drink. It was of course very bitter to her, and her expression even showed it. Gaster seemed to make a small chuckle in amusement as he put his hands together, resting his chin on them. "I see. Optima... I can help you" Gaster said. "I can help you magic development… bone attacks, utilizing your magic to different forms… _energy blasters_ of my own design, like lasers" Gaster said.

Trying to be kind, she sipped down more of this drink, and raised an eyebrow at him. "… Energy Blasters….?" She asked.

"Yes" Gaster smiled, reaching within his pocket to pull out the drawings of his 'blaster', shaped like a skull of a dragon of sorts. It was quite the unique design… scary and monsterous. "I'd like to call them… _Gaster_ Blasters. Scientists like naming their inventions after themselves" Gaster said.

"Fitting…" Optima mumbled without thinking. An object of offense that was just as scary looking as Gaster felt. She sipped down more- now it was gone. A flame elemental came over, a female this time, filling up Optima's drink and taking orders for food, even if they had not gotten menues. There was only a small selection they could choose from, to which Gaster chose a steak of sorts, ordering the same for Optima as he tried being nice. Optima didn't really listen, she was thinking. She wasn't unintelligent, that was for sure. This was all… skeptical.

"Optima… have you ever thought about other aspects of your furture? Not Entrepenural but… paternal?" Gaster asked her, tilting hishead to the side to emphasize his question.

Optima frowned at the question. Why, of course she had! Soul bonding was a very useful feature of monsters, after all. "I had hoped to meet a friendly monster with values that match mine somewhere down in my life… however no time soon…" she murmured, not thinking of this information as she sipped more of her drink, the bitterness slowly becoming numb to her. With it, her head was slowly getting blurrier and blurrier. She knew she could trust Gaster though, he was the royal scientist, despite how creepy she found him. Without warning, Gaster took optima's hand, holding it tight between his own. She looked at him confused, her magic around her head faultering with the delieriousness of intoxication. "Optima" He said, his grin looking a tad more sinister now. "I want you"

"What… what do you mean…?" Optima asked inquestion, straightening her back and watching him. His hands now that she realized, were cold. Ridged. What was going on with this man…?

"We're the only two skeletons left, Optima. The last of our kind" He told her, gripping her hand tighter. "You and I… we want to get stronger. We want to free our fellow monsters. Don't you want that? Not just that… but if we were to come together… we could revive our species. Make them stronger. Break the barrier. Gain _revenge_ on the humans who had slain our kind. _The humans who killed our brothers and sisters_ , Optima. You and I together… We can regain the lost pride the monster kind had suffered! We can take back the surface from the ungreatful humans…! Show them…Who is really the dominant kind… One day, Optima. We can bring back glory to the Monsters!" With every word he slowly became more and more ominous and horrid. Optima listened to every word and squeezed her eyes shut.

"No!" she tore her hand from his grasp. "You… you're…. no… you'd… I saw those things… in your lab… if we were to have children… all you'd do is… experiment on them… treat them like…. Like things!" She held her limbs close. "Not just that…. i… I don't care… of getting revenge…. I just want…. Want to be happy" That alcohol was hitting Optima very hard. It must have been very strong… and she now knew why. Gaster may be smart, he may be the royal scientist, but he was _not_ a good monster. "I want love… not necessity…" She uttered out.

"Love is useless in this world, Optima" Gaster seemed to hiss. " _Violence_ , however, is not. _Violence and vengeance_ will lead monsters back to the top! Would you really dare get in the way of Monster kind?"

"That isn't right… Violence and fighting… its never the answer" Optima murmured. "it's the problem, Gaster! I refuse… I'd never"

"It is the only working force in this world, Optima! If you don't cooperate with me willingly to accept these truths, then…" He lifted his hand, as if to pull her soul into blue magic, however her resistance was strong, even while drunk. She stood at the table, rattling and knocking over their glasses. "Never, Gaster! I will not!" She seemed to yell at him before trying to make a dash for the door. Gaster gritted his teeth and watched her leave. His plans as of now had _failed._ He should have known trying to use blue magic on even a weak skeleton was not going to work. That, was Optima's own problem. As she had ran to escape him, he sighed in exasperation. This plan was an utter and complete failure.

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 **See what i mean by sensitive content? Poor Optima... all she wants is happiness! But Gaster... well, we all already knew Gaster was a strange bean. I usually go for the head cannon that Gaster was a kind and supporting father to his children (Papyrus and Sans) but... the cruel and cold hearted one worked much better for this story.**

 **Well... hope you all enjoy the story. Don't forget to follow and favorite and review if you'd like! I'll try to get busy on my other fanfiction but.. Inspiration is a problem.**

 **~Tigrissa18**


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